I think this is a bit short-sighted. The US is essentially an untapped market for international soccer. Really the only one. There are some additional incentives for European teams to produce a US soccer star.
USMNT - Turning Point?
- Thread starter MWN
- Start date
I think this is a bit short-sighted. The US is essentially an untapped market for international soccer. Really the only one. There are some additional incentives for European teams to produce a US soccer star.
younothat
PREMIER
Well it was nice to see them do better vs Northern Ireland
Missing the third straight Olympics after Honduras loss not so much. Turing Point for that lets hope so.
No more excuses the other country's found a way and we didn't, plan and simple. The lack of leadership and stability on the US side continues on.
Missing the third straight Olympics after Honduras loss not so much. Turing Point for that lets hope so.
No more excuses the other country's found a way and we didn't, plan and simple. The lack of leadership and stability on the US side continues on.
EOTL coming on strong today. So far bro, best post today. Keep it to soccer and you might make a come back
whatithink
GOLD
I don't agree. The big teams come and play in their pre-season. Their games are being broadcast. They have their faux affiliations at the youth soccer level. They don't need a "flagship" US player on their roster to tap the US market.
They do want access to US investors mind, which is happening in multiple leagues.
BTW, Asia is the market they all want to dominate - vastly more people and soccer is far more popular.
whatithink
GOLD
Agree to the general point, but the whole "big country should beat small country" is a silly argument/stance.
Belgium is the #1 ranked team in the world. Honduras has a similar population.
You can compare the investment, infrastructure, level of coaching, budget etc. and no way the US should lose ... but just the "we have more people" thing has no merit.
I seem to recall that the book Soccernomics correlated country success based on population, time playing the game and GDP. It’s an interesting read, lots of cool insights, like don’t sign a 29 year old striker coming off a successful World Cup campaign.
Honestly I was worried about Pulisic, Lampard did not seem to like him and when Tuchel took over I thought he was on the outs but now it seems he has played his way back into the good graces of the coach. How is it Werner gets every chance in the world and Pulisic plays a bad game and he is benched? If Pulisic can stay healthy the sky is the limit for him.
younothat
PREMIER
Has loads of potential, like him but yet to be consistent.
Either hot or cold and needs to find a way to stay heathy and get more playing time.
Chelsa's away goal could be huge in the 2nd leg. Last year of the away goals in Champions League so should be interesting.
electrichead72
SILVER ELITE
If he can stay healthy, then maybe we'll get to see what he can do.
As soon as he starts to get some steady playing time and starts to shine, he gets hurt. He could be a big asset to Chelsea and the USMNT, so let's hope that he can keep healthy.
As soon as he starts to get some steady playing time and starts to shine, he gets hurt. He could be a big asset to Chelsea and the USMNT, so let's hope that he can keep healthy.
Pulisic even though he came off the bench was awesome and that assist was both unselfish and lovely. Perhaps an American in a Champions League final.
Also it's an all English final. The top of the premiere league is really pulling away from the rest of the world (and the rest of the EPL), and with the failure of the Superleague, that's only going to continue particularly given the financial difficulty the Spanish and Italian clubs find themselves in (I don't know the financial condition of PSG and Bayern)
Also it's an all English final. The top of the premiere league is really pulling away from the rest of the world (and the rest of the EPL), and with the failure of the Superleague, that's only going to continue particularly given the financial difficulty the Spanish and Italian clubs find themselves in (I don't know the financial condition of PSG and Bayern)
whatithink
GOLD
Pulisic was excellent when he came on, scared RM to death and a critical assist so coolly taken.
My 0.02 worth
The EPL does look like it could pull away. Its the second time in 3 years that it's an all English final, and its two different teams. The Europa league final could also be an all English affair with Man Utd all but in and Arsenal needing to turn around the first leg. And that's two different clubs again.
Add in that Leicester look likely to qualify for Champions league next season, that's a demonstration of a very strong league.
PSG are loaded, with basically billions behind them if needed. Even with that they may not win the French league. They got very petulant yesterday and were basically outplayed by Man City for 3 of the 4 halves.
Bayern are also dominant financially in Germany with Adidas, Audi & Alliance (insurance) owning a 25% stake between them ... no shortage of money and guaranteed champions league every year.
Real M and Barca need to rebuild, but that's expensive and the latter may not be able to afford it and stay competitive outside Spain in the short term. Real were shown up to be old, IMV, today. The Italian league is generally weak. There are quite a few players that couldn't quite hack in the EPL going there and tearing it up ... that should tell you everything. Again, it gets highlighted in the Euro comps when they meet top class opposition.
City are a pretty good "case study" on building a team versus the galacticos approach favored by Real M, Barca & PSG. The City team vs PSG cost a cool $1B approx. (below in GBP stolen from elsewhere). There were no "huge" buys, just lots of good (expensive) "buys", and while they obviously pay crazy well, there's no $1M a week net of taxes salaries etc. It means that they can take a hit when someone is out, because they have someone else nearly as good. They also play a system, with some exceptional talent obvs, so you can slot players in VS "get the ball to Messi/Neymer/Mbappe/Ronaldo".
Starting XI:
Ederson-£35m; Walker-£50m; Stones-£50m; Dias-£62m; Zinchenko-£2m (anomaly); Mahrez-£60m; Fernandinho-£35m; Gundogan-£20m; De Bruyne-£55m; Silva-£44m; Foden-acadmey.
Subs:
Ake-£41m; Sterling-£50m; Jesus-£27m; Aguero-£35m; Laporte-£57m; Rodri-£63m; Torres-£21m; Mendy-£52m; Cancelo-£27.5m; Steffen-£5m.
So that's a starting XI costing approx £413m and another £378.5m waiting on the bench. A total match day squad of approx £791.5.
Oh yeah ... the EPL roster size is 25 players I believe, so they have more players again in the roster - crazy & scary all at the same time.
Also interesting that it’s still Real Madrid Barcelona juventus and inter that are holding out from repudiating the super league. The epl clubs folded like a wet blanket
electrichead72
SILVER ELITE
I think they may hold out hope for the money.
Those Spanish and Italian clubs really need the money. It looks like they may have no money to spend this year unless they can get someone dirt cheap or sell some of their players. That could lead to another year of not doing too well in Europe.
Since the rest of their league are not really doing too well either, they all still end up in Champions's League.
UEFA may be trying to ban them for the Superleague thing, which I think is dumb, but if that goes through, they're going to take another financial hit.
Those Spanish and Italian clubs really need the money. It looks like they may have no money to spend this year unless they can get someone dirt cheap or sell some of their players. That could lead to another year of not doing too well in Europe.
Since the rest of their league are not really doing too well either, they all still end up in Champions's League.
UEFA may be trying to ban them for the Superleague thing, which I think is dumb, but if that goes through, they're going to take another financial hit.
Desert Hound
DA
Just noticed last night that the goalie for Austin FC is Pulisic. He is a cousin of the well known Pulisic.
Kudos to Horvath coming off the bench for Steffen and just not making the save of the game but key saves in the second half.
SoccerFan4Life
PREMIER
Pulisic was irrelevant for the first 45 minutes. The 2nd half he did make a huge difference. Strange game for pulisic. I was also surprised Aaronson didn’t play.
Amazing game. Back and forth the whole time. Madness in the stands. If seating wasn’t limited by covid there would have been a riot. The Ref was forced to play a role in the game but was fair without being a factor in the outcome. Seriously that ref kept things from getting crazy. Even the players sensed it but nether team was going to back down.